Spydie price hike?

[Ciliatus]

I keep a regular list of knives I'm keeping an eye on, including an amazon wishlist full of spydercos. I also keep a "piggy bank" fund for spydies, flashlights and other toys. That being said, I've got a bit of a stash ready for my next spydie and I notice the prices on almost every model has gone up recently. My Amazon wishlist remembers how much an item is when I add it to my wishlist and tells me if the price increases or decreases. I've noticed all of the spydies in my wishlist have gone up between 5 and 15% in the last month or so. And looking at other vendor websites, they seem to be following suit. Anyone else notice this?

[The Deacon]

I don't use Amazon for knives, and don't keep records of my preferred vendor's current prices over time, so I can't say I've noticed an increase, but wouldn't be overly surprised if it's true. There's not much that doesn't go up in price. I know energy costs have risen in the past year, and every step of knife production from the mining of the ores to the finished product is heavily dependent on energy.

[Slash]

More people demanding higher quality. Higher quality=higher pricing.

[bh49]

On Amazon prices going up and down, depends on demand. I didn't notice any increase at dealers recently, which on-line stores I am visiting once in a while.

[Clip]

I bought a CF Caly3 from Amazon at $119, the next week it was up at $134. That got me wondering, so I looked for an Amazon price tracker.

Check http://www.camelcamelcamel.com (or others), I've used it to check price history and set up an alert on a Sharpmaker. Makes total sense that these things exist but I never knew til I saw the Caly price jump.

[RedRunner]

Amazon's prices can change through out the day based on volume sold, inventory levels and probably a number of other factors. It happens on a lot of products sold through Amazon and then I suspect dealers selling through Amazon match prices to Amazon, etc. Not a big surprise and not a real indicator.

As far as concern with Spyderco prices increasing, I'd agree with Deacon's comment that everything is increasing price. So you should expect price increases on Spyderco products too as their cost of raw materials, labor, etc., increase. And then if you are looking at the whole product line, realize the notable increase in specialty steels and scales going into the current offering. Those have always cost a lot more, if you are looking at the whole offering and not just focussing in on a single knife.

Let's face it. Spyderco provides great value. I don't think we need to fear price gouging or hyper inflation at this time. There are plenty of other knife manufacturers we can look to for that. Spyderco is delivering an incredible product at a very fair price.

[rodloos]

Yeah I'd blame Amazon for the price increases, prices elsewhere seem steadier to me. I have a sneaking suspicion Amazon raises the price just because you expressed interest in it :) . I've many times had a link open to an item on Amazon, thinking about it, and when I refresh the page the next day or next week the price had gone up.

My favorite dealer increased his prices a little bit, used to be 46% off retail on *most* spydies, now it's 44% on most, but that's still cheaper than many other places, at least when he has them in stock.

[yobohadi]

If you can wait for it, usually the prices drop during the Christmas season on Amazon when stores are really competing for your business.

[Blerv]

There has been a natural increase of MSRP over the years but mainly due to materials being used. There has been a creep-up due to other economic factors which seems most apparent in the Japanese models (yen vs dollar, etc). I haven't noticed a sudden increase at all (personally).

I usually use Cutlery Shoppe as my pricing basis for what is going on. Jeff seems to keep his prices pretty bare-bones compared to the others and at the least consistent. You can get a Para2 for $98 which is give/take within pennies of what it was when initially launched after the rush.

Overall the dealers on Amazon seem a bit more flighty. This gives opportunities for great prices and shabby ones, similar to ebay. It sacrifices consistency.

[bh49]

I bought a CF Caly3 from Amazon at $119, the next week it was up at $134.I never knew til I saw the Caly price jump.

Even $134 is not that bad. We used to pay around $150, when they come out. MSRP used to be $250, but than dropped to $200.

[FroOchie]

I keep things in my Amazon wishlist so long they go up and down in price so many times they even themselves out again. Its normal for Amazon but the trade off is sometimes you really get great deals.